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Suddenly, James reached out and put his left arm over her shoulders, pressing her into his side as he guided her along the hallway. It was such an unexpected contact that she almost gasped. She was glad she didn’t, though. He might have pulled away.

“If he wants to, I am confident that Aurora’s mate will find her,” he said at last.

They turned together into a doorway on the right side at the end of the entrance hall and found themselves in some kind of parlor. Someone had used their power to set a fire in the parlor’s fireplace. Gabriel was showing Amber some of the contents of a large display case on the far side of the room. Olivia saw a flash of metal in Gabriel’s hand and wondered if it was some kind of jewelry or dinnerware. Then Amber reached out and grasped the object with a distinct sound of approval and Olivia saw it was some kind of throwing weapon. The realization almost made her laugh. As it was, she made a sound that had Ini-herit and Jabari turning to look at her from their places in front of the fire.

As Skye’s voice floated to them from the doorway and Olivia realized she and Caleb were on their way inside, Olivia looked up at James and asked quietly, “What makes you so sure?”

He knew she was still talking about Aurora’s mate. Looking at her with his steady gaze, he said, “I know what would motivate him. If Aurora thinks that their connection is strong enough to draw him to her, then he will find her. I understand that kind of connection now.

“And I know that if it was me separated from you, nothing would keep me away for long.”

Chapter Ten

Some took the transformation to Mercesti better than others. Kanika had not taken to it at all.

The Orculesti who had used her mental abilities to lead Grolkinei’s commanders to the location of the Becoming ceremony nearly eight weeks before had done little besides weep and moan since regaining consciousness after those commanders had carried her back to his holding. She had believed that by leading the Mercesti to the ceremony, she could dispose of the sister known as Amber. She had further believed that with Amber out of the way, she would have Gabriel’s love for herself.

She had apparently dismissed entirely the fact that her actions would convert her to a Mercesti the moment Amber came to harm.

Grolkinei would normally have killed her by now. Any Mercesti who transformed and did not seem to accept their new class wasn’t worth anything to him. In fact, it could lead to dissention among his ranks, something he would never abide. But Kanika was unquestionably beautiful and gifted. If he could manage to convince her that she had made the right choice, he was certain she would outperform Layla when it came to intercepting the thoughts of other Estilorians. Which meant he might actually learn more about Saraqael’s daughters and their various fates.

After a cursory knock on the door of the bedroom he had established for her upon her arrival at his home, he entered the room. The two guards standing outside the door didn’t even look at him. He closed the door behind him.

The curtains had been drawn, cloaking the room in darkness. It didn’t matter. He could see perfectly well in the dark. She was sitting on the side of her bed. She wasn’t crying, which he took as a good sign. Her long, black hair hung straight down her back, pouring onto the bedding beneath her. She wore a red nightgown that exposed much of her smooth skin to his view. Since she didn’t lift her eyes from her folded hands in her lap, he approached the bed and sat down beside her. His gaze ran briefly over the red markings along the outer edges of her eyes. She had told him they served to enhance her mental abilities. He could only assume this was true, not having succeeded in coercing her to show him the full scope of her abilities.

He hoped that was about to change.

“How are you today, my sweet?”

“Do not call me that,” she hissed.

He smiled and lifted a hand to her hair, enjoying the sheen of it as well as the reaction it caused from her. She jerked to the side and batted his hand away. He fought back a victorious chuckle. This was the first time she had made any effort to resist.

“Why? You are sweet. And is my touch really so abominable?”

She frowned at him, but he saw her giving him an assessing look rather than immediately dismissing his question. Her eyes traveled over his ebony hair, which he knew had gotten a bit long. His eyes were long-lashed and, like those of the other Mercesti, blood red. He had a charming dent in his left cheek when he smiled, as he was now. And there was no arguing that he maintained an exceptional physique. He was actually highly sought-after by Mercesti females.

“I—do not want this,” she stammered finally. She looked confused.

This time, when he reached up and brushed a hand along her cheek, she didn’t pull back. “I think you do not know what you want. I think that the thoughtless leader of the Gloresti twisted you up in knots and left you to rot. And I think that you deserve vengeance for that.”

“No.
Archigos
Gabriel would not do that. I did not make my feelings known—”

He gripped her hand. “Do not dare blame yourself. He does not deserve that. You do not know what he is capable of after spending so many years among humans. You have said yourself that he avowed himself to one of them.”

Her eyes flashed a brilliant red in the darkness. “Yes,” she said, her voice hard.

“He abandoned you for
her
, a weak and diluted abomination to all Estilorians. And you do not think that you deserve vengeance for that?”

She paused, obviously debating with herself. “But she is dead. What more can I—?”

“Are you certain of that?” he asked, his voice smooth as glass. “We have been unable to confirm it ourselves. And you are too busy wallowing in self-pity to assist us.” When she frowned, he added, “Would it not be quite ironic if these many weeks Gabriel has been laughing at you even as he and his avowed half-human frolic together like rabbits?”

And when she screamed in fury, he knew he was, at last, making real progress.

The morning after they arrived at Gabriel’s, Caleb stood in the hallway outside of Skye’s bedroom. His shoulders were pressed against the wall as he leaned with his arms crossed over his chest. He also had his ankles crossed in front of him in a deceptively casual stance. His long body all but filled the hallway. They were going to begin the sisters’ defense lessons that morning. He had been standing there for the better part of an hour waiting for Skye to get ready for the day. This waiting was a habit he had grown quite used to, even if it continued to perplex him. What could she possibly be doing in there for all that time?

Right now, she was singing…loudly and almost entirely off-key. Another thing he had realized early on was that of the three sisters, Skye had the least amount of vocal talent. That didn’t seem to diminish her enthusiasm for it even an iota. For the life of him, he didn’t know why he found that fact so charming.

“If you like it, then you shoulda put a ring on it,” she sang.

He had already learned this one.
Beyoncé
. One of her favorite artists. He had determined that the human singer imparted a lot of feminine attitude into her music, if Skye’s interpretations were any indication.

Suddenly, an image shimmered into existence. He had seen Sky Tomaganuk, the Yupik elder for whom Skye had been named on the human plane, only a few other times since Skye transitioned. The spirit being who served as an additional guardian for her was usually invisible to everyone but her, so he must have needed to convey something important. Somehow, Caleb completely understood the look he received from the now-manifested spirit.

“Do not worry,” he said calmly. “We will train her to avoid that happening.”

With a nod, the spirit again winked out of existence. The singing grew closer. Caleb’s eyes moved to the door as he pushed away from the wall. She finished her song even as she pulled the door open. He braced himself.

And still, the sight of her knocked the breath out of him. It always did.

Today she wore a bright purple tank top and one of her matching flowing skirts over leggings. In lieu of sandals, she was wearing purple slippers. Her hair was unbound, falling to just below her waist in a cascade of loose curls. She smelled like lavender today, he noted. Her scent changed daily depending upon her mood, something that drove him to distraction.

She looked up at him with her brilliant smile and guileless light blue eyes. “Good morning, Caleb,” she said cheerfully. “I hope you slept well.”

“You should change,” he responded abruptly, ignoring her greeting.

“What?” Her brow wrinkled. “I just got changed!”

“You will be training today. That outfit is hardly appropriate for training.”

She stiffened. “I’m training to defend myself, right?”

He nodded.

“Well, I left off all of my jewelry like you said yesterday. And if I’m attacked by someone, how do you think I’m going to be dressed? Don’t you think I should learn to defend myself in as natural a state as possible?”

Now he frowned. She had a point. When she smiled because she knew she had a point, his frown intensified.

“You at least need to go and bind your hair,” he persisted.

She sniffed and waved a hand in dismissal. “I like to leave it unbound. You know that.”

He stepped toward her, his gaze holding hers. “I do know that,” he said, taking another long step in her direction until he was less than a foot from her. “I know you have beautiful hair and that you have some justified vanity about it.” He reached out and stroked some of the scented tresses, noted the widening of her enchanting eyes. His fingers sifted through the heavy weight and watched the effect it had on her. “It heats with fiery color when the sunlight hits it.”

When her lips parted and no words came out, he suddenly changed his hold on her hair, winding the bulk of it around his hand twice in rapid succession. Within a half-second, she was gasping and pressed against him, completely immobile.

“Ow—hey!” she cried, trying to wriggle away and failing. When she attempted to put her arms up between them to pry herself away, he merely intensified his hold.

“But as lovely as all of this hair is,” he continued as if he didn’t notice her distress, “it can be used as a weapon against you.”

He held her just like that, his lips just inches from hers, watching the emotions flash across her features: shock, anger, fear, understanding. And then, when it was just her pressed against him, confusion. And interest.

His hold on her released so quickly that she nearly fell. He instinctively reached out to steady her, watching as she lifted a hand to rub the back of her head where he had pinned her. She still seemed very conflicted about what had just happened.

“Bind it,” he said roughly, pushing her bedroom door open to prompt her to obey him.

The brisk, rude order had the effect he was seeking. She lifted her chin haughtily and flounced into her room, grasping the door in preparation of slamming it closed. Before she did, she spun, her glorious hair and her lively skirts flaring with the movement.

“You only had to say so,” she snapped. Then she slammed the door.

Yes
, he thought with a mental sigh as he leaned back against the wall to wait and breathed deeply of her lingering scent.
But then I would not have gotten to touch you.

In the center of Gabriel’s impressive home was a large, grassy courtyard. Open to the elements because it had no roof but surrounded on all sides by the high castle walls, it was the ultimate training facility. He had a tremendous array of weapons, though no guns or other modern artillery which did not exist on this plane. There were targets for practicing archery and throwing weapons, straw-filled dummies for swordplay, a raised, roped-off section for physical sparring, a sand pit (for what reason Olivia couldn’t even guess) and a wall of what looked like exercise equipment. She marveled over the rows of graduated weights sitting on two levels of wooden stands. They were all made of smooth, polished stone rather than metal.

As she had before their first flying lesson, she stood between Amber and Skye. Their Gloresti stood a few feet behind them. Ini-herit was off to the side, observing. And in front of them stood the largest Estilorian of them all.

Uriel was the Waresti elder. About twenty-five human years in appearance, he wore his dark hair cut short and was dressed in a black tank top with matching pants and boots. The planes of his face could have been lasered out of rock. So could his many muscles, for that matter. Those muscles were liberally decorated with burnt-orange markings similar to Ini-herit’s silver ones. James had told her that the markings formed whenever a Waresti killed a Mercesti in defense of another. Olivia was certain Uriel was at least seven feet tall. She truly thought her head would top out at his breastbone, but she was too nervous to approach him to prove her theory. His odd, burnt-orange eyes scoured over each of them.

She struggled not to squirm under his obvious scrutiny. She could all but hear his thoughts. Looking at Amber, who was dressed in a black tank and her favored military-style-looking khaki pants and black boots, her beautifully toned arms crossed over her chest as if daring someone to approach and her gold eyes gleaming in challenge, he would surely find approval. She was by far the most physically strong and skilled in the ways of combat of the three sisters. After years of karate, kickboxing and other aerobic activities on the human plane—not to mention the continued routines she practiced every evening with Gabriel’s assistance on this plane—Amber was ready to do battle.

Likewise with Skye, he would certainly note the effect that years of dancing had made on the youngest sister’s physique. She exuded grace and balance and had legs that wouldn’t quit. Her gaze was forthright and almost as challenging as Amber’s, if not nearly so knowing and cynical. Sure, she didn’t make quite the physical challenge as Amber, but still.

And then there was her, Olivia mused, trying not to wince. Not having done much at all along the way of physical activity on the human plane, she was by far the weakest of all of them. Her pursuits had been dedicated to education and learning. The most exercise she had gotten was walking to school every day. And she hadn’t exactly made a point of trying to adjust that since coming over to this plane, she acknowledged now. Climbing trees and walking through the woods hardly qualified as physical exertion.